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Temples / November and December 2014 UK Tour

Temples have announced a list of UK tour dates to accompany the release of their deluxe album ‘Sun Restructured’. Described as a “re-animation’ of their debut album ‘Sun Structures’ (reviewed by Martin here), the new release was created by Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve (aka Erol Alkan and Richard Norris) and is due out on the 10th of November on Heavenly Records. You can listen to the remix of ‘Move With The Season’ below the tour date listing. Tickets for the following Temples shows go on sale tomorrow, Friday the 29th of August, at 9 AM.

Saturday 29th November 2014 – Bristol Trinity Centre
Sunday 30th November 2014 – Brighton Concorde 2
Monday 1st December 2014 – Norwich Waterfront
Wednesday 3rd December 2014 – London Forum
Thursday 4th December 2014 – Sheffield Leadmill
Saturday 6th December 2014 – Manchester Ritz
Monday 8th December 2014 – Edinburgh Liquid Room
Tuesday 9th December 2014 – Aberdeen Lemon Tree
Wednesday 10th December 2014 – Glasgow Arches
Thursday 11th December 2014 – Newcastle Riverside

The BBC at Glastonbury 2014 (Friday): Temples play ‘Sun Structures’ at the John Peel Stage

Wherever you will be hanging your hat this weekend, whether you’re joining the sheep at Worthy Farm or you’ve got your feet up in front of the telly, us here at TGTF will have you covered when it comes to Glastonbury 2014. The dedicated people they are, the folks at the BBC will be working all hours during the festival and feeding us live coverage as it becomes available. What does this mean for you? We’ll be passing along all the best bits to you, our faithful readers.

In the mood for a bit of psychedelia and time travel? Then you’re in luck. Here’s live footage of Kettering’s Temples performing the title track off their debut album ‘Sun Structures’ at the John Peel Stage Friday at Glastonbury 2014. Watch it below.

For more of the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage online, head this way. Stay tuned for more videos from Glasto 2014 right here on TGTF.

(SXSW 2014 flavoured!) Album Review: Temples – Sun Structures

In a small part of Kettering, it is forever 1969. Specifically, James Bagshaw’s home studio in the box-room of his parents’ end terrace house. Whether or not the strictures of this home-brewed recording facility have contributed to the distinctive sound of ‘Sun Structures’, there’s no doubt that the work stands as testament to the potential of a brave new world of self-production: a few microphones, a cheap computer, lots of patience and the odd spoonful of talent, and you too could create a work worthy of release on Heavenly Recordings. There’s no limit but your imagination.

Bagshaw has worked out how to recreate the sound of what are no doubt some of his favourite records from the very climax of the 1960s, when psychedelia bumped into hard rock in a beat-pop nightclub and they all decided to head home for several glasses of rough red wine, to inhale some heady incense, and pull off a through-the-night recording session. Pink Floyd’s ‘Saucerful Of Secrets’ set the bar for far-out experimentalism, combining an ear for Lear’s absurd mind-pictures with The Kinks’ pastoral songwriting. Their sound is familiar, but searching for the archives for a band that Temples have actually plagiarised proves fruitless: even though there are several stylistic touchstones, Temples are their own band.

All four of 2013’s singles are collected here. In chronological order: début ‘Shelter Song’ is as good an introduction to Temples as any: massive 12-string guitar riff, classic analogue(-sounding) ’70s-style drum production, dreamily overlaid vocal parts with cavernous reverb… and is that a tape-reverse interlude? ‘Colours to Life’ is a wider, smoother production, akin to floating gently in a giant lava lamp’s convective drift. The chorus is a veritable choir of retro fantasy. ‘Keep in the Dark’ (video below) stomps along merrily, whilst ‘Mesmerise’ builds its whole around an evocative descending riff and even manages some twinkly harp. Throughout, there’s so much 12-string guitar, one suspects Bagshaw has bought shares in a guitar string manufacturer.

Of course with so much production one often can’t really hear what’s being sung, which encapsulates the biggest flaw of ‘Sun Structures’: the album is defined by its distinctive production. The wall-of-sound is the main course: in the manner of a catwalk model, the underlying bone structure of chord, melody and lyric are demeaned into subservience as garnish, a vector for glamourous frippery. And whilst it is clear that Bagshaw has created something distinctive and powerful in his band’s voice, the all-encompassing sameness of the sound means that there is too much album to eat in one sitting – there will be a vinyl release, and there’s little doubt that it deserves to be a proper gatefold, four-side affair. Thought of as two discs, as a brace of mini-albums, the whole becomes much more manageable – playing both discs back-to-back will be strictly a connoisseur’s treat.

For almost a year now, Noel Gallagher has been telling everyone within earshot that the future of human civilisation rests on the success of the Jagwar Ma and Temples albums. Whilst it’s open to debate as to whether the endorsement of a man whose defining musical characteristic being his magpie tendencies towards the Beatles is particularly useful to a band who take so much influence from the past themselves – the approval of a true visionary would carry far more weight – in a way Gallagher does have a point. Temples are a fine live band and they are creating complex, cerebral recorded music in a classic style that clearly deserves longevity, and in the process exposing a new generation to the sounds of the heady, optimistic days in which their parents (or indeed grandparents) grew up. In contrast to the cynical, manufactured side of the modern music business, Temples are a reminder of more innocent days, where people made music for love rather than money, and an album was a thing of beauty, to be savoured over time, rather than a quick, sugary fix. ‘Sun Structures’ is proof that music can still be made and consumed in the same way today, and for that it should be applauded.

7/10

The debut album from Temples ‘Sun Structures’ is out now on Heavenly Recordings. The band will be heading out to their first SXSW in March.

Album Stream: Temples – Sun Structures

Kettering’s Temples, borne of psychedelia and glam rock, will be releasing their debut album ‘Sun Structures’ next Monday, the 10th of February, on Heavenly Recordings. Ahead of that, you can stream the whole shebang below. Us here at TGTF are not responsible for any regressions to past decades or other feelings of vertigo that may result from listening to the album.

Video of the Moment #1436: Temples

Big-haired psych rockers Temples are getting a lot of love on radio as of late, and it’s not just for what is on the top of their heads. ‘Mesmerise’ is even getting attention on the American side of the pond, and Stereogum named the song one of the best songs of the week. The animated video itself for the song is a strange mixture of what you’d expect from Empire of the Sun and Django Django. Watch it below.

Live Review: Temples at Newcastle Reds Bar, Northumbria University – 12th October 2013

Teddy boys, punks, goths, metal heads, ravers… the desire of humans to conform to a pre-existing group, and to display that choice through their choice of clothing, haircut, piercings, tattoos and other personal paraphernalia, must be a source of constant fascination to sociologists. Perhaps it’s a modern expression of a primal flocking instinct: the concept of “strength in numbers” expressed through an agglomeration of pop culture-derived behaviours.

Quite how an individual comes to choose a particular group isn’t clear. It may be a response to conditioning, either positive or negative – perhaps a rebellion against overly authoritarian parenting, or in tribute to a particularly charismatic performer. Elvis Presley is no doubt responsible for more bequiffed foreheads than anyone else. What unites all the groupings mentioned above is that they primarily take their inspiration from a particular genre of music, indeed the music and the fashion are irredeemably intertwined; neither could exist without the other. A perfect symbiosis of visual and sonic aesthetics.

Which brings us to Temples, a band who wear their influences on their sleeve with a rare devotion. It’s no secret that they covet psychedelia, but there’s a root of glam rock contributing a much-needed weight to the sound, ensuring there’s never any risk of floating away on a cloud of paisley incense. Previous single ‘Colours to Life’ is a case in point: the lead track is a dreamy patchwork of twelve-string guitar and lazy vocals set well back in the mix, drifting into the brain with no effort at all.

B-side ‘Ankh’ is a much more assertive affair; there’s a big bassline, fantastic ’70s snare action, and an enormous synth-led chorus. Properly uplifting stuff, and far more than a simple “psychedelic” tag would lead you to expect. Latest single ‘Keep in the Dark’ unashamedly harks back to classic ’60s psych-pop, with a hint of ‘Emily’-era Pink Floyd, but the marching rhythm section from before keeps things moving nicely.

Lead singer James Bagshaw is himself a one-man tribute act: he’s wearing his mum’s 1971 polyester blouse in lipstick red with gold threads running through it, an admirably tight perm, and dabs of glitter on both cheeks, all adorning his etiolated frame. In other words, the very essence of glam chic. For all those here who missed the ’60s the first time round (er… that’ll be all of them, then) this is a useful demonstration of how ’60s psychedelia transformed into ’70s glam.

And even now, their sound is still fresh. Yes, there’s a revival of interest in anything psychedelic at the moment, which doesn’t harm their cause, but even without that, the quality of their songwriting would stand out. And the popularity of psych means that, if there’s never been a gang for you, one more just got added to the list. It just might be your thing.